"Despite the rags and hunger and pain, love and strength do come out of misery." Is what Vanessa V Friedman of "Entertainment weekly" concluded about Frank McCourt's hard fought struggles in Ireland. On the same uplifting note, Heddy-Dale Matthias of "The Clarion Ledger" states, "Frank McCourt has seen hell, but found angels at heart." Both opinions present the idea that even though Frank was going through a rough period in his life, his determination to succeed allowed him to progress and eventually succeed in accomplishing his goals. Showing that the struggles Frank McCourt and his family had to endure in order to survive were a result of the widespread poverty and prejudice in Ireland, illustrating the fact that the McCourt family was forced to effectively utilize every available resource in order to survive
             The poverty in Ireland and America in the 1930's and 1940's forced the McCourt family to take full advantage of situations that could have been manipulated to favour them. After the death of the McCourt family's only daughter, the poverty which had forced the McCourts to have less then a couple of dollars to their name forced the father to manipulate his sister-in-laws to write a letter to Angela's mother persuading her to provide his family with money so he would be able to return to Ireland with his wife and sons. This proved to be a perfect example of how any situation can be manipulated due to the rising poverty and prejudice to favour the McCourts. Another situation in which a member of the McCourt family was able to manipulate a delicate situation which aroused because of the poverty was when the McCourts were evicted from their lane and had no other choice but to move in with a relative. A argument between Frank and his relative Laman, left Laman enraged and howling for Frank to be evicted from his residence, "He's a little shit and I want him ...